A Kitty in the City
by JemimaWeasley
Summary: Cats AU, repost When Electra falls in love with a human something forbidden among Jellicles she enlists the help of the witch Elvira in order to meet him. However, Elvira has other plans.
1. Prologue

--Prologue--

One warm summer's night, in the cozy suburbs of the city, smoke and spicy scents drifted from the Williams family's backyard, lacing the air with smells of summertime and delicious food. The neighborhood was holding its annual cookout, and families crowded the lawn as they ate barbeque, salad, and home-made cake.

But in one corner of the large, grassy space, around a small campfire, a group of teenage kids paid no heed to the events nearby. They were having a party of their own.

"So, who broke up with who?" inquired a blonde girl named Angela, as the boy in front of her looked around nervously. "And where are they now?" Her friend Sandy leaned over next to her and whined, "Come on, Jeremy, tell us!"

"I told you, I don't keep up with that stuff!" said Jeremy, the red-haired boy across the circle being questioned. "Ask Brian if you want to know," he said, pointing and making a noise of disgust once the girls were gone. Brian, who was sitting a few spots over, turned to the two girls and began to answer their question; this soon turned into a heated discussion.

The third girl in attendance rolled her eyes and sighed. "Really, don't you all have anything better to talk about than the personal relationships of everyone in the school?" Gesturing at Jeremy, she added, "And you know Jeremy doesn't bother with that junk." She crossed her legs and sighed again. Jeremy turned bright red.

"Gosh, Samantha," Brian said, pretending to be offended. "Don't be so harsh."

"_Me,_ harsh? I'll give you harsh, Brian Williams..."

Before any fights broke out over the importance of everyone's gossip (or lack thereof) the last person in the circle said to Brian, "Actually, Samantha's right. Didn't you say that you had some sort of story to tell tonight?"

Brian jumped to his feet, remembering what the boy had told him. "Oh, yeah; you're right, Matthew," Brian said to the dark-haired boy next to him, acting as if he had never forgotten at all. Leaning over towards him, he whispered, "Thanks for reminding me."

"No problem, Brian," Matthew said with just a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Ooh, a story?" Angela squealed in delight. "What kind? Is it a fairy tale? A scary story? A _romance?_" Samantha groaned.

"Has anyone," whispered Brian, beginning his story, "ever heard of a Jellicle?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"You wouldn't," he said. "Jellicles never dare to make themselves known. But they are always watching..."

"What in the world is a Jellicle?" asked Jeremy. "Shut up, I'm getting to that," said Brian.

"A Jellicle is one of the strangest creatures known- or rather, _not_ known- to humankind," he continued. "Why, you ask? Because it's almost human itself- but not quite." Brian paused for effect. "A Jellicle is part human- part _cat_."

Angela and Sandy both gasped. "Like, a furry person?" Sandy asked. "That's really disgusting if it is..."

"Who knows?" said Brian in a spooky voice. "No human being has ever seen a Jellicle, except for fleeting seconds. And that's only one way we know they exist..."

"What's the other way?" asked Jeremy. It didn't sound like he believed the story.

"On nights when the moon is full and the night seems unusually dark, people have heard singing coming from odd places like junkyards and alleyways. In fact, someone got the name 'Jellicle' from something they heard them say..." Everyone perked their ears up in spite of themselves.

"The few people that have seen a Jellicle have very different ideas of what they are like. Some say they have magic powers. Some say they can dance. But they all agree that a Jellicle's best skill is dancing."

"Cats can't dance," said Samantha.

"These can," Brian said, "with the best of them."

There was a very long silence. Then Jeremy abruptly said, "That story was the biggest load of trash that I have ever heard!" He stood up and crossed his arms. "People that look like cats? With incredible dancing skill? Excuse me, but that's not possible."

Samantha stood up and gently nudged Jeremy back down into his seat. "Calm down, Jeremy. It's just a fairy tale, it has to be. Cat-people don't exist," she said.

Angela looked around warily. "Real or not, I'm still freaked out." She pointed at Brian with an accusing finger. "Next full moon, if I hear singing, you're going to get it, young man." She sat back down, still glancing around nervously.

"Samantha and Jeremy are right," Sandy said. "We're being silly. Cat-people don't exist." She glanced at Matthew, who hadn't said a thing the whole time. "Right, Matthew?"

"Right," he said, and Samantha and Jeremy beamed. "Right," he repeated, though not as sure this time.

Brian got up and began to walk away from the small campfire. "Come on, let's go get something to eat," he said, gesturing in the direction of the house. The rest of them got up and followed suit.

But unseen to Matthew, as he walked away with his friends, a pair of bright eyes looked at him through the trees before a dark, mysterious shadow disappeared into the night.

_To Be Continued..._


	2. Chapter 1

--Chapter 1--

The Jellicle Junkyard is always a lively place on sunny days, when the sky is free of clouds and it is a great day to just do whatever the heart desires out in the sun. And today was no different; the kittens were playing, the older cats were chatting, and some Jellicles just took the opportunity to sunbathe for a while.

From inside the cardboard box that served as her home, Electra watched as her friends played tag outside in the clearing. Sighing, she turned away and flopped down onto her blankets. She didn't feel like going outside. She wasn't in the mood to play. No one understood what she was going through, anyway.

Idly, Electra began to fiddle with the corner of the blanket, not noticing the small holes she was making in it with her claws as she pawed at the fabric. As she toyed with the section of material, she began to flash back to the events of recent days, the reason why she was cooped up inside her house.

A few weeks ago- was it two? Three? One? Electra thought- she had become restless during the night and decided to take a walk through the Junkyard before going back to bed. However, Electra hadn't thought of the fact that sometimes, in the dark, familiar places look a lot different than they do in the day. She had wandered and wandered around the alleys and passageways of the Junkyard, until she hadn't even been in the Junkyard anymore- but on human territory. Scared and lost, Electra had kept walking.

_Why had I even done that? _she thought. Going anywhere near the vicinity of humans was strictly against Jellicle law; it had been drummed into her since she was a kitten. Jellicles had always been apart from humans- it had been that way forever. Her people did not socialize with theirs. It didn't work any other way.

"Humans are close-minded creatures," Electra's mother had said once. "They don't like anything they don't understand. Humans don't understand Jellicles."

However, Electra had forgotten many things in her fright, and had proceeded into a forest near the human dwellings. She walked through miles of trees and brush, fortunately keeping hidden by the abundant summer foliage, until she found a light.

The humans had been throwing some sort of party when she found them. Most of them were crowded around near the wall of the dwelling, and Electra couldn't discern what they were doing from so far back. The action closer to Electra was far more interesting, anyway.

Some of the younger ones, looking to be around the equivalent of Electra's own age, had started a small bonfire farther back in the grassy space and were sitting around it, talking and playing as Electra knew those of her age to do. There were two girls with light hair gossiping with a boy sitting next to them. The last girl was sitting a few feet away, obviously perturbed by something, and one of the boys was sitting across from her, looking uncomfortable with the whole situation.

There was also one more boy in the group, one who seemed to create his own category away from the others'. And from the first second Electra saw him, he took her heart away.

Electra could hardly find the words to describe him. He had dark hair…and a thin, calm face that was nonchalant and full of emotions at the same time. He was wearing what seemed to be a simple shirt and shorts. Electra couldn't see his eyes well, but she was sure that they were beautiful.

Electra was head-over-heels in love with a human boy, and there was nothing she could do about it.

That night, she had eventually found her way somewhere close to the Junkyard, where a search party comprised of Mungojerrie, Alonzo, and Asparagus had found her and brought her back to her family. But she could never forget that stunning boy from the human suburbs. She didn't think she ever would.

----

There was an old saying about love that Electra had heard a million times before- "Love can make you do crazy things," or something like that. She had never really understood that little phrase…until now. _Now,_ she thought, _it's the truest thing I've ever heard._

Electra had been doing a lot of crazy things lately, ever since she saw the wonderful boy in the suburbs. For one, she'd stayed in her box for most of the day, each day, except to eat or when someone bugged her to come out enough. The vision of the boy crowded her head most of the time, made it hard to concentrate on much else.

She knew what another little phrase she had heard about love meant, now- _languishing in love._ Electra was languishing in love.

She hadn't just been wasting away in her box for weeks on end, however. Electra just didn't have that kind of personality. Maybe she was a bit of a wallflower, and maybe she was languishing in love, but she wasn't the type to stay dormant all the time, forever, not to mention the more intelligent type.

Electra had decided to go out. Making sure that she wasn't seen, she had crept down to the neighborhood where she'd seen the boy for the first time and stayed there for as long as she'd dared, hidden, hoping that he'd pass by. Occasionally, she'd see some teenagers walking down the street, but it was never _him._

Of course, going there at all was violating Jellicle law again. But, frankly, Electra didn't care anymore. Having a chance to see him like that was worth it.

No. That wasn't right. Electra _did _care. Every time she snuck out of the Junkyard, she worried that someone would notice her gone. She was scared that someone would catch her. She was scared of what Old Deuteronomy would say, what her friends would say, what her parents would say, if she let humans know about their people. She was risking the secret every time she went out there.

But she also wanted to see the boy. And love not only makes you do crazy things, but it can blind you to what's really important. And so Electra went.

She would hide in trees and behind fences around the neighborhood, scurrying around, trying her best to stay hidden. One time, she even went to the nearby school and hid in the odd metal and plastic structures outside, watching the doors, wondering, hoping that _he_ would come out for some reason. But he never did.

Snapping back to reality, Electra rolled over in her bed and started to think about taking a nap. Sitting in one place all day was more tiring than it looked.

Meanwhile, while Electra was dreaming of her mystery boy, Munkustrap was walking around on the other side of the junkyard, enjoying the beautiful day. He was just making his way through one of the little alleyways that connected the main sections of the Junkyard when-

"Look out below!"

Jumping aside just in time, Munkustrap narrowly avoided both Pouncival leaping off a pile of trash high above and Tumblebrutus running below to catch him, which he fortunately did. Both of the kittens, after rolling around in the dirt a bit from the impact of Pouncival's landing, broke into loud and happy laughs. A few seconds later, Etcetera, Victoria, and Jemima skidded in, collapsing right next to them and joining in.

Munkustrap cleared his throat loudly, making all five kittens jump. Pouncival looked at the ground, then at Tumblebrutus, then back at Munkustrap.

"Oh," the young tom said weakly. "Sorry about that, Munk." The rest of the kittens soon caught on, and mumbled their apologies.

Munkustrap sighed. "It's all right," he said reassuringly. As the kittens began to scamper off, he called to the queen-kittens, "Has Electra come out yet?" They shook their heads and ran after the others.

Munkustrap had been worried about Electra lately. For the past few weeks, the kitten had been acting very, very oddly. Since the night of her rescue from the outer edges of the Junkyard, Electra had stayed cooped up inside her box, only coming out to eat or drink- if that. Something was definitely wrong with her, but Munkustrap had no idea what it could be.

Munkustrap began to walk absentmindedly as he pondered the problem. Strolling down one of the many passageways which connected the Junkyard together, he failed to notice the large, gray Persian settled on a ledge several feet above his head.

"Hello, Munkustrap."

The silver tabby jumped in surprise, having been unaware of Old Deuteronomy's presence in the vicinity. "Oh…er…hello, sir," he mumbled, flustered.

Deuteronomy chuckled. "Must you always be so serious, Munkustrap? All I do is say 'hello' to a fellow Jellicle, not to mention my own son, and you get all uptight."

Munkustrap's cheeks flushed. "Sorry, Father."

The older cat snorted in disbelief but said nothing. After a long silence, Deuteronomy said, "What's on your mind, Munkustrap? You seem like you're worried about something."

"It's one of the queen-kittens, Electra," he said. Deuteronomy nodded and gestured for him to go on. "She's been acting…_odd_ lately."

"What has she been doing?" Deuteronomy asked.

Munkustrap explained as much as he knew to his father. When he had finished, the older cat simply sat for a while, in thought.

Finally, Old Deuteronomy said, "I honestly have no clue what is the matter."

"So what am I supposed to do?" said Munkustrap. "Electra's hardly been coming out for meals. If I don't do something…"

"Just give her time, Munkustrap," Old Deuteronomy said. "This may just be some sort of phase. Electra's getting to be older, and you know how older kittens can be."

When Munkustrap opened his mouth in protest, Deuteronomy continued, "Encourage her to come out, but don't force her. Just let time solve the problem, as all problems."

Sighing, Munkustrap nodded in agreement. Who was he to disagree with Old Deuteronomy?

"Now, go on, back to the other Jellicles. I'm sure you're needed somewhere," Deuteronomy said. Gently shooing Munkustrap off, the silver tabby ran down the passage, back the way he had come.

After Munkustrap had gone, Old Deuteronomy settled himself back down on the ledge, finding a comfortable spot on top of a cereal box. Thoughts of the young kitten Electra entered his brain, but were quickly pushed out; it was all just a phase. Right?


End file.
